The STF Q&A: Columnist Chuck Woodling of the Lawrence Journal-World

STF likes to run a Q & A with some people who know much, much more about college basketball than we do. Look for insight and analysis from some of the top professionals in the world of college basketball.Today we have Chuck Woodling, who has been writing about basketball at Kansas University since the short-shorts era. In addition to being a long-standing sports columnist at the Lawrence Journal-World, he's the author or co-author of two books about the Jayhawks. Chuck was kind enough to answer STF's questions about this season, and here's what he had to say:


Q&A With Chuck Woodling


STF: The national media have focused on the return of Brandon Rush and the growth of Darrell Arthur - what aren't people noticing about players like Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun, and Darnell Jackson?

CW: Soothsayers like to focus on pro prospects. In so doing, they overlook the good college players like Robinson, Kaun, Jackson and you could also include Mario Chalmers in the mix because Chalmers is a marginal pro prospect.

STF: We keep hearing that Kansas doesn't have a "go to guy" in the crunch. Should they? And if so, who is it?

CW: You're right. KU doesn't have a go-to player. Do they need one? Not really. However, with Rush out, Chalmers is probably the closest thing they have to a go-to player. If it were me, I would want Chalmers to take the last shot and, if it misses, hope that either Arthur or Jackson can horse it back in.

STF: Danny Manning is now an official Assistant at his alma mater - do you see a bright coaching future ahead for the big man?

CW: I don't envision Manning throwing himself into the cauldron of college coaching. Never a big ego person, Manning seems content operating in the background.

STF: This season is already starting out with some huge upsets of traditional powers. Who does Kansas need to beware of in the early going?

CW: With so many early home games, it's probable the Jayhawks will come out flat for one or two of them. For instance, they may be looking ahead to Arizona when they meet Northern Arizona. DePaul could throw a monkey wrench into the works on Dec. 8. Often, too, the Jayhawks have performed at a lower level prior to Christmas break, meaning Miami of Ohio could upset the apple cart on Dec. 22.

STF: And who will challenge for the Big 12 crown?

CW: Texas will be tough, as usual, and Kansas State has some terrific young talent, but I don't think it's any secret that the Big 12 Conference, as a whole, isn't brimming with Top 25 potential.

STF: Kansas won't have a lot of minutes for Freshmen this year - which of the new guys could surprise us?

CW: Bill Self will find minutes for freshmen Cole Aldrich and Tyrell Reed. How many is hard to say. The other two frosh are walk-ons who are likely to earn court time only during blowouts. In other words, I'll be surprised if there are any surprises.

STF: The Jayhawks have been favored to win the title nearly every year since their last one in 1988 - why do you think it hasn't happened?

CW: Winning a 64-team tournament is 50 percent skill and 50 percent luck. In the NCAA Tournament, sometimes it's better to be lucky than good, as anyone who knows the story line of the 1988 team will tell you.

STF: Some pundits think Bill Self is not a championship-caliber coach. Are they right?

CW: For 15 years at Kansas, Roy Williams was not a
championship-caliber coach. Then Williams went to North Carolina and won the big one for the first time with talent recruited by his predecessor. Now Williams is officially a championship-caliber coach. Norm Stewart is a legend at the University of Missouri and he never even took a team to the Final Four. Who's to say who's a championship-caliber coach and who isn't.

STF: You've seen a lot of Kansas basketball games. Which ones stick out in your memory?

CW: Boy, there have been so many. I do remember vividly, though, the 1971 team playing in the Final Four in the Astrodome. And Bud Stallworth's 50-point game a year later. And, of course, the 1988 NCAA championship game against Oklahoma. And the NCAA Final Four loss to Syracuse in which the Jayhawks couldn't buy a free throw. And on and on.